Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Director John Hennessy Sells 1,050 Shares

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Director John Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total value of $318,580.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. This trade represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of GOOG stock traded down $3.63 on Thursday, hitting $302.67. The stock had a trading volume of 2,967,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,421,328. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $318.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $292.32. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $350.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 price target (up from $355.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $345.71.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DeepMind hires Jasjeet Sekhon (former Bridgewater chief scientist) as chief strategy officer — high‑profile AI talent that strengthens DeepMind’s research/commercial capabilities vs. OpenAI/Anthropic. Bridgewater’s chief scientist Sekhon to join Google’s DeepMind AI unit
• Positive Sentiment: Google’s Stitch redesign and other AI product updates are pressuring competitors (Adobe, Figma) — signals faster monetization and product expansion outside core search/ads. Adobe Stock Drops After Google’s Stitch Redesign
• Positive Sentiment: Wiz buyout and other cloud security moves broaden Google Cloud’s enterprise footing — supports higher cloud revenue and AI adoption with less friction vs. AWS/Azure. GOOGL’s Wiz Buyout Expands Cloud Security Portfolio
• Neutral Sentiment: Google will let websites opt out of generative AI in search to ease UK competition concerns — may reduce regulatory tail‑risk but could limit product features in that market. Google to allow AI opt-out to ease UK competition concerns
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares (~$10.0M at ~$307.89) — part of a pattern of recurring insider sales; large, repeated sales can trigger short‑term caution among investors. Alphabet CEO Sells $10,006,425.00 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet is increasing reliance on Chinese suppliers for advanced liquid cooling and may acquire a Chinese cooling firm — improves AI capacity but raises geopolitical/export‑control and regulatory risk. Alphabet’s Growing China Cooling Ties Add New Angle To AI Valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Broader analyst commentary warns hyperscalers’ huge AI capex could pressure margins/valuation if returns lag — a sector headwind that can weigh on GOOG despite its scale. Forget the War Headlines: This Is the Real Reason Tech Stocks Are Struggling

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.